Drowning My Sorrows
by solaesce
Summary: Sasuke is oblivious and Neji is heartbroken. It’s only natural that it’s because of Naruto. Go figure. SasuNaru, onesided NejiNaru
1. Sasuke: Oblivious

New story here. Originally a oneshot, but lengthened itself. Shouldn't be more than 5 or 6 chapters, though.

Somehow I am managing to finish a chapter/day, or making up for it. I am _so _proud of myself. :

Anyways, it's AUish, kinda future fic.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto... same applies for all other chapters.

Enjoy!

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_Sasuke is oblivious and Neji is heartbroken. It's only natural that it's because of Naruto. Go figure. SasuNaru, onesided NejiNaru_

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Chapter 1:

--

Ramen, I admitted privately, was pretty good. Not "the best, most wonderful food," but still, pretty good.

Not that I'd ever admit to that moron, I decided. He'd never let me live it down. Make a giant fuss. Announce it to the village. Ask me if I was really 'that bastard Sasuke.'

Yeah.

Someone sat next to me, to my surprise. I was sitting in the very corner of a small, though not too broken down, bar, purposely trying not to get attention.

People tended to avoid me, anyways, from my 'smoldering black glare' and 'tough guy, bad boy looks.' Unless they knew me. And then, they avoided me even more.

Because I was Uchiha Sasuke.

Well, except the fan girls. They liked me _more_ because of my bad boy rep. I shudder to think of them.

It wasn't Naruto, thank god. I dunno what I'd do if I saw him _today_ and _now. _

He'd be noisy. And annoying. And sincerely kind and happy to see me. That retard.

So I knew it wasn't him.

And it wasn't Sakura, either, I was sure. She would've greeted me already. And attached herself to me like a leech, albeit with good intentions.

Who else? Maybe Kakashi, but I was sure that if it had been him, I would have noticed his brightly colored 'literature' already.

Nobody else was really my friend. I wasn't like Naruto, bright and cheerful and endearingly sincere and all that. I didn't have his knack of somehow becoming friends with everyone, his knack for appearing cutely naïve, for _knowing_ just how to make someone comfortable, knowing when to be quiet and when to fill the air with meaningless noise.

I really wasn't like Naruto, Naruto who was cool and happy and so obliviously smart. Naruto who was strong and determined and goddamnably loyal. Loyal to I who tried to push him out of my heart. I who tried my hardest to kill him more than once and nearly succeeding. Me.

Goddamn retarded asshole.

I took another swallow of sake, and pushed my finished bowl of ramen away, frowning slightly, absolutely refusing to look to my right to see who in their right minds would willingly sit next to me.

Me, Uchiha Sasuke, current village outcast.

Silence filled the air as neither I nor the person next to me said a word.

"Drowning your sorrows, Uchiha?" a voice cut through my musings coolly.

"Hyuuga Neji." A bit taller, with longer hair, and a slightly more mature though still quite feminine face, the Hyuuga prodigy hadn't changed much in the years that I'd been gone.

"You shouldn't be talking," I nodded towards his own glass of sake, my voice just as cool as his did. "I never thought that the pride of the Hyuugas would become an alcoholic in the scant years I was away."

"Touché, Uchiha, touché."

We sat in a sort of companionable silence, as almost-comrades, as people who could probably relate to each other.

"What _are _you doing here, in a bar like this, Hyuuga?" I couldn't stand the silence anymore nor my curiosity.

"What about you?" he retorted. "You, the heir of the famed Uchiha clan. What about you?"

I shrugged, refusing to rise to his provocation. "I guess you were right. Drowning my sorrows. Heh."

He stared at me, before smiling bitterly.

"Same as you...drowning my sorrows," he murmured softly, his hands clenching his glass until his knuckles were white.

"What kinda sorrows?" I asked, almost flippantly, almost apathetically, the sake loosening my tongue slightly, to my chagrin.

"This," he said, looking at me almost angrily, swallowing more sake. "Is all your fault."

"Is it," I say, rather surprised.

"Absolutely," he said fiercely, glaring at me with those pure white eyes of his. I could have sworn they were glowing.

"_You_," he snarled, stabbing my chest with a finger. "Are the most _oblivious_ person that I have ever had the _absolute _misfortune to be acquainted to."

"I am?" Now I was totally confused. "Isn't Naruto the most oblivious?"

Neji grimaced angrily. "No! You _fool_."

"_You_ are. And you're so clueless that you don't even realize it."

I blinked amusedly.

And he snarls under his breath before yanking me towards him and kissing me with his tongue. His hand pressing me against his body, before abruptly letting go.

"Were you disgusted by that?" he asked suspiciously.

"...No?"

"Good. Now we've established that you are gay or bisexual," he said calmly. "See? I would be willing bet you never realized it before."

"I'm straight. Straight as a ruler."

"...You really are stupid."

--

I hope you liked that, and please review?

_Written: July 24, 2008_

_Words: 765_


	2. Neji: Altruistic

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Chapter 2:

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"So...wait – what?"

Neji felt like banging his head on the bar counter. Honestly. He had never known that _Uchiha Sasuke_ could _possibly_ be _more _oblivious than _Naruto, _and that was _really _saying a lot. "

"We have reached several conclusions and proven the hypotheses that many of our fellow shinobi friends have theorized," Neji said, attempting to suppress his irritation. God.

"Okay?"

Was it because he was drunk? He didn't _think_ that the other drank a lot, but maybe he had low alcohol tolerance. Maybe he was a stupid drunk who seemed sober.

Who was he kidding?

"You're stupid, Uchiha," Neji sighed. "In the past hour or so, we've established that you're bisexual, leaning towards gay, that you're in love, and that you _should really confess."_

"Except I'm _straight_ and I'm not fucking in love with anyone!" So, he was getting mad, was he? Well, he was, too, so they were even.

He wasn't thinking straight, and he sighed.

"Shut up, dumbass," he said wearily. "Just shut up."

"Why? Why are you telling me this?" Uchiha looked confused.

Good for him. That dumbass. Shit, he was drunk too. Every bit as drunk as Uchiha, if not more. Not very drunk, but still.

"Just – just listen to me on this," he said. "You _are_ in love. You _are_ in denial. _And_ I know who you're in love with. _Everyone_knows. And he loves you, too. You go figure it out by yourself, dumbass."

And he left, slouching uncharacteristically, leaving behind the confused Uchiha.

Damn you, Uchiha Sasuke, he thinks. You're everything to him, and he's everything to you, but you don't even fucking _realize _it.

Goddamned assholes.

--

Review, please?

_Written: July 25, 2008_

_Words: 276_


	3. Naruto: Wistful

--

Chapter 3:

--

I was walking around, well, jumping around the rooftops and stuff, really.

It was pretty late, past midnight, but I couldn't sleep, so I was out. Taking a walk, kinda. I did that a lot. And I liked it, too. It was always comfortable, the night air kinda cool, but not too cold or anything, and it was – quiet. Peaceful.

It was a good time for me to think, to organize my thoughts, stuff like that.

I couldn't stop thinking about Neji. About what he said. How he looked. I never thought that he would look like that, like he would have almost cried, but wouldn't have, but – I dunno. Like he ached.

It made me sad and I was really, truly sorry, but there was honestly nothing I could do.

How could I protect my friends when I was the one hurting them?

I could remember how he'd smiled, and how _real_ it looked, how _fake_, and it was so different from the usual Hyuuga Neji, it was – scary.

--

"_Hey, Naruto,"_

"_Yeah, Neji?" I_ _grinned at the less emotional boy, rather surprised by the odd expression, almost a grimace, on the older boy's face._

"_Could I, if you have time, maybe, could I talk to you privately?"_

"_Sure!"_

_--_

"_So, what didya wanna talk about?"_

_Neji looked nervous, but that wasn't right because Neji was never nervous; no, he was confident and cool and almost cold, but he cared, kinda like that asshole Sasuke except Sasuke was confident to the point of arrogance, stronger, darker, angrier, but just as caring, kind._

"_I just – just wanted to tell you that, I, ah – "_

"_Are you nervous, Neji?" I was grinning, because it _was _funny, _Neji _nervous and hesitating. He was a lot more like Hinata than he admitted._

"_No!" Neji looked almost offended, before that almost-grimace came back on his face, before his face almost-softened, looking sadder and older and–_different_._

"_I–I love you, Naruto."_

_I stared at him, stunned, and then I'm stammering, trying to get all of these words out coherently. "Wh-what? But– that, I mean, I don't like you! Like _that_, I mean. I mean, you're my friend, but I'm not–I don't–not you, I just–"_

_And suddenly, he's in front of me, and the next second, we're kissing, and it's good. Neji was _good _at kissing, really good._

_Then he stops, and he's grinning-but-not-really and he looks almost sad-but-not, and all the other wants to do is say something, _anything_, anything to stop that achy sad look on Neji's face._

"_It's okay," Neji says. "I knew that you didn't like me like that. Just, if you get rejected, just know that I'll always be there, okay?"_

_I nod dumbly, in complete shock._

_Neji turns to leave, but he looks back and says, "And you should confess soon. That bastard's even _more_ clueless that you, somehow."_

_--_

"Dammit," I mutter. "He's too smart for his own good."

So what if I liked Sasuke? He was still a bastard, and a stupid one at that, and it's not I would be oh-so-lucky enough for him to like me when I liked him. With my luck, he'd be homophobic or something. Stupid asshole.

I sigh, still leaping around the village. Only in a ninja village, in one of these 'hidden' ones would someone leaping on top of roofs all night be considered _normal_ and ignored.

Hey, was that Sasuke? I stop, crouching on a roof, in the shadow of a wall, watching Sasuke walk out of the bar across the street, and I follow him.

I don't know why, but I do, I just _did_ so, no thinking or anything.

He looks – different, but the same, his skin just as pearly against his just-as-black hair, but he looks confused and almost-sad and – I dunno.

But he looks beautiful, and the shadows of night covering his face makes him seem like one of those tragic heroines, but he's a _guy_, and he doesn't need rescuing.

Sometimes I wished he would.

But he didn't.

--

Third chapter, already. Maybe I'll actually finish this. Wish me luck.

_Written: July 25, 2008_

_Words: 677_


	4. Sasuke: Epiphanies

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Chapter 4:

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I'm drunk, I think. I'm not sure. Not really; I mean, I'm walking fine and all, but it's kinda hard to concentrate.

Stupid Neji and his stupid all seeing Byakugan eyes. Stupid me, stupid Naruto.

Everyone's stupid.

I sigh, and I continue walking. I was going home, I think, but not anymore. Now I'm just walking. Purposelessly.

My life is-meaningless. Meaningless, because I had spent my life working towards one goal.

Revenge.

I had never given a thought to what I would-afterwards. I do not believe that I ever imagined that I could possibly kill Itachi and live-not, not Itachi.

My older brother Itachi, the once-pride of the Uchiha clan, the heir apparent, dead, by me, Uchiha Sasuke, second in line, younger son, younger brother, always behind Itachi, never as good, as powerful, as strong.

Uchiha Itachi, parricidal Uchiha traitor.

Uchiha Sasuke, current village outcast.

Were we really all that different?

Both traitors. Murderers.

Stupid stupid Uchiha Sasuke. Sacrificing your life for revenge. To be different from your brother. And it turns out that I'm exactly like him.

Stupid.

My thoughts wandered back to Neji. How he'd kissed me. Smirked and told me I wasn't straight. Insisted that I was in love. Needed to confess. How he looked angry and sad and almost-hateful.

Weird.

Why would he look like that? Like it hurt him to talk to me, to not pound me into the ground, and kill me a hundred times over, like it hurt him to tell me, warn me, caution me about love, out of all things.

He should heed his own fucking words. Everyone, well, maybe not everyone, but quite a few people know that he likes Naruto.

Or as Ino and Sakura squealed, "Neji's got the hots for Naruto! It's so sweet! They're so perfect for each other! They're, like, exact opposites!"

It pissed me off. So what if Neji likes Naruto? It didn't mean that Naruto would like Neji. Or that they'd look good together.

Stupid closet yaoi fangirls.

Naruto wouldn't fall for Neji, anyways. He was too prissy. Too proper. Too apathetic and emotionless. Naruto was happy...cheerful...bright... He showed all of his emotions, poured sincerity and determination into everything he did, everything around him. Neji wasn't like that. He was—different.

They didn't—wouldn't match.

Not at all.

Not if I had anything to say about it. And Naruto would listen to me. I was his best friend, after all, and he trusted me, for all that I'd betrayed him and tried to kill him.

That stupid, clueless goddamned dork.

He was so stupid, so trusting. I didn't understand how he could be like that. How he could still stand the sight of me, how he could look at me and grin, visibly lighting up, sending this warm sort of happiness through my body, like a ray of sunlight, of pure happiness.

That stupid– Oh my fucking god.

I—Was I really that—stupid? I can't believe that I have only just noticed that I—loved Naruto.

--

Hehe... Fourth chapter already. Is very impressed with myself.

Written: July 25, 2008

Words: 503


	5. Sasuke&Naruto: Declarations of Love

_--_

_Chapter 5: Declarations of Love_

_--_

He sighed, crouching on a tree limb as he watched Sasuke throw _kunai_ knives at the target, his eyes, glowing in the shadows of the forest, captured by the grace and skill.

Sasuke's graceful movements captivated him as his eyes flickered across the other's body, seeing the slight trickle of sweat, the beautiful eyes, dark and unreadable, the black locks of spiky hair. The night gave the Uchiha a particular allure, his black hair and eyes and clothes stark against pale skin almost glowing in the darkness. He admired how his tight fitting black shirt clung to his body, how his white shorts complemented it so well, how Sasuke's lean muscles showed clearly.

Really, he was too beautiful for a boy. More like a warrior princess, perhaps. Beautiful and deadly.

He sighed quietly, his eyes tracing the other's movements wistfully.

A sudden movement registered in the corner of his eye and he turned, but it was too late, as whoever it was leapt at him.

He ducked automatically, falling upside down on the tree branch, but the other tackled him and they both fell into a bush, fighting furiously. He finally managed to throw the other off him and he ran up a tree, spinning a kunai knife warily, before he froze as he felt cold steel touch his throat gently as whoever it was wrapped an arm around him from behind, trapping one of his arms.

"Who are—Naruto?"

Naruto swung his head backwards, his eyes widening in shock. "Sasuke? But you—now—what?"

Sasuke let go of the blond, jumping off the tree gracefully. "What were you _doing_, Naruto? You would have been _dead_ if I was an enemy ninja."

"Yeah, yeah..." Naruto laughed sheepishly, following the Uchiha as he began collecting all of his weapons from the training ground. "My bad, my bad."

"Jeez," Sasuke grumbled under his breath. How did he become one of the elite, one of the best of the best, when he was so—stupid?

"What _were_ you doing?" Sasuke suddenly remembered as he put away his last shuriken. "Were you the one following me?"

Naruto froze before handing Sasuke a kunai knife that he had missed, who nodded in thanks before tucking it away. "Well?"

"I—I was—I was training!" Naruto fumbled for an excuse.

One thin eyebrow rose up gracefully as Sasuke stared at Naruto with a do-you-think-I'm-stupid? kind of look in his disbelieving eyes. "Really."

"Y—yeah!" Naruto nodded furiously, eyes wide. "I was, um, practicing my stalking skills, and I saw you, so I followed you to test you, y'know, if you would sense me or not, and yeah!"

He nodded furiously, and swallowed as Sasuke touched his cheek gently. Sasuke's hand cupped his cheek lightly, as Sasuke murmured, "I may be drunk, but I am not _stupid_, Naruto."

Naruto froze as Sasuke's thumb brushed against Naruto's cheek gently, tracing over his whisker marks as his other hand wrapped around the blond's waist, pulling him closer. He stared into Sasuke's dark, unreadable eyes, swallowing slightly as Sasuke leaned closer.

"Maybe I am stupid," Sasuke murmured. "To not realize this until now."

"Realize what?" Naruto asked, just as quietly, his eyes darker than usual.

"That I loved you," Sasuke said simply, his eyes watching Naruto's reaction, hiding his anxiety.

"Honestly?" Naruto didn't dare think that it was true. _Maybe this is a dream_, he thought desperately. _Maybe—_

"Yes. Do you love me?" The simple question was filled with hidden hope, longing, and wistfulness.

"Of course," Naruto said fiercely, almost scowling at him. "I've always loved you, for years and years and years, since before you left."

Sasuke smiled. "That's good."

--

Here we are, at chapter _5_. I am very impressed at myself, truly. There should be an epilogue, and I'm going to edit the chapters a bit, but other than that, this story is virtually finished.

Thank you freexflyer, for your very kind review.

_Written: July 29, 2008_

_Words: 611_


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